Serra do Mar Ecological Corridor
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| Serra do Mar Ecological Corridor | |
|---|---|
| Corredor Ecológico da Serra do Mar | |
 Antonina Bay from the Serra do Mar | |
  | |
| Coordinates | 25°30′39″S 48°20′36″W / 25.5108°S 48.3432°W |
| Designation | Ecological corridor |
The Serra do Mar Ecological Corridor (Portuguese: Corredor Ecológico da Serra do Mar or Corredor de Biodiversidade da Serra do Mar) is a large collection of protected areas in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná in southern Brazil that form an ecological corridor connecting areas of Atlantic Forest.
The Serra do Mar Ecological Corridor extends from Paraná to Rio de Janeiro and covers about 12,600,000 hectares (31,000,000 acres).[1] It encompasses some of the most densely populated areas of Brazil, within which there are several important fragments of Atlantic Forest.[2] The corridor is one of the areas with the richest biodiversity in the Atlantic Forest.[3]
Purpose
An ecological corridor is an area of great biological importance that consists of a network of protected areas interspersed with varying levels of human occupation and different forms of land use. The corridor provides integrated management to ensure the survival all species, maintain ecological and evolutionary processes, and develop a strong regional economy based on sustainable use of natural resources.[1] It allows for the flow of plant and animal genes between the protected areas, thus maintaining genetic diversity.[4]